The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today issued the following statement dismissing military claims of an "NPA threat" against Pope Francis who is set to visit the Philippines in January.

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) categorically denies the preposterous claims made by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) that the New People's Army (NPA) poses a threat to the security of Pope Francis who will be visiting the country in January 2015.

The AFP's claims, made the other day by its Central Command spokesman, are only meant to justify the deployment of large numbers of troops and the imposition of repressive policies against the people, especially in Samar and Leyte and other areas to be visited by the Pope.

Together with the rest of the Filipino people, the CPP, the NPA and all revolutionary forces look forward to Pope Francis' visit to the Philippines. Through his visit, the Filipino people hope to draw attention to the outstanding problems of poverty, exploitation of workers, land monopolies and feudal oppression, the wide gap between the super-rich ruling elite and the rest of the toiling people, human rights violations and the widespread use of state terror against the people.